Marcia Clark was the most recent guest author at The Poisoned Pen. She’s the last guest author of 2024, so you might want to catch her discussion of her latest book, a nonfiction book called Trial by Ambush. There are still a few signed copies available through the Webstore, but it’s too late to get them before the holidays. If you want a copy, you need to know you’ll get it in 2025. https://bit.ly/41y4moG.
Here’s the summary of Trial by Ambush.
In this dramatic true account about the power of sensationalized crime, one woman’s case is exposed for its sexism, flagrant disregard for the truth, and, ultimately, the dangers posed by an unbridled prosecution.
Unwanted and neglected from birth, Barbara Graham had to overcome the odds just to survive. Her beauty was both a blessing and a curse—offering her too many options of all the wrong kind. Her innate sensitivity left her vulnerable to the harsh realities of the street, where she was left to fend for herself before she reached double digits. Her record of petty crimes spoke to a life that constantly teetered on the brink of disaster.
But in 1953, a catastrophic twist of fate would catapult her out of obscurity and into the headlines.
When a robbery spiraled out of control and escalated into a brutal murder, Barbara became the centerpiece of a media circus. Her beauty enraptured the press, and they were quick to portray her as a villainous femme fatale despite abundant evidence to the contrary—a fiction the prosecution eagerly promoted.
The frenzy of public interest and willful distortion paved a treacherous path for Barbara Graham. In Trial by Ambush, author and criminal lawyer Marcia Clark investigates the case exposing the fallacies in the demonizing picture they painted and the critical evidence that was never revealed.
California native Marcia Clark is the author of Final Judgment, Snap Judgment, Moral Defense, and Blood Defense, all part of the Samantha Brinkman series. A practicing criminal lawyer since 1979, Clark joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office in 1981, where she served as prosecutor for the trials of Robert John Bardo, convicted of killing actress Rebecca Schaeffer, and, most notably, O. J. Simpson. The bestselling Without a Doubt, which she cowrote, chronicles her work on the Simpson trial. Clark has been a frequent commentator on a variety of shows and networks, including Today, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, and MSNBC, as well as a legal correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.
Follow Marcia on X at @thatmarciaclark.
Enjoy the conversation with Marcia Clark.